E3 2010: Naughty Bear Impressions

Canadian developer Artificial Mind and Movement has made some pretty cutesy games over the years, from Disney movie games, to multiple High School Musical titles. And at first glance, the developer's newest title, Naughty Bear, appears to be following in the same happy, child-friendly footsteps. But after playing the game for a few minutes, and getting to know the lovable stuffed-bears that you'll be interacting with, you'll see how different of a gaming experience Naughty Bear really is.

The game takes place on a beautiful island, with you controlling the titular Naughty Bear. All of the other bears on the island don't like Naughty Bear because - you guessed it - he's just too naughty. Naturally, this is a justifiable reason for some cold-hearted revenge, and that's exactly what the whole game is about. Featuring 7 episodes with 5 chapters each, Naughty Bear allows players to explore the sandbox-styled island in an effort to be as naughty as possible.

In total, there are over 250 ways to be naughty. These can range from destroying public property, to scaring other bears. But one of the best ways to earn naughty points and build up your multiplier is by killing other bears. That's right  by murdering the sweet, innocent, fuzzy bears that want to do nothing but live on their island paradise.
The amount of ways to go about killing said bears are both staggering and hilarious. Of course, there is a large array of weaponry, from guns to axes and the like, but there are also plenty of contextual kills in the game. For example, when confronting a bear in a car, we could stick his head in the open door and slam it shut, cackling manically as stuffing shot out of his head. There's also some cool cinematic kills, such as sneaking up on a bear and breaking his neck, or shooting a bear on their knees, executioner-style.

Of course, the level of naughtiness doesn't end there. When you sneak up on a bear, you have a choice to either scare him, or kill him. While killing a bear outright might seem like the naughtier option, playing mind games with the furry little critters can actually be worse. For example, if a bear witnesses you murder another bear, they will freak out, earning you a nice multiplier. And the game's dynamic AI means that scared bears will always act unpredictably, whether that means calling the police, barricading themselves in their house, or just running away. You can even scare them so much that if they are carrying a weapon, they will simply kill themselves to escape the horror. And trust me  watching a stuffed bear split his own head open with an ax is uproariously hilarious, if not a little demented.

Naughty Bear seems to be following in the footsteps of games like Conker's Bad Fur Day, which appear kid-friendly in their presentation, but are anything-but in their gameplay. In addition to the 7-10 hour campaign, Naughty Bear will feature multiplayer as well as leader boards so you can see how horrifically naughty you are compared to the rest of the world. Its release date is set for June 29th, on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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About the Author

Studying English at the University of Western Ontario, Alex Coulter hopes one day to be a published novelist. If that plan should fail, however, then he hopes to write stories for an even more renowned and prestigious medium - video games. Gaming since he could hold a controller, Alex's interest for video games piqued during the Super Nintendo-Playstation/N64 transition, and has never faultered yet.